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November 4, 2025 • 3 min read
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the global financial giant that owns the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), just released its third-quarter 2025 financial results. For anyone interested in the plumbing of global markets, this report provides a detailed look under the hood. Let's break down the key takeaways from their latest 10-Q filing.
For the third quarter of 2025, ICE reported total revenues of $3.0 billion. After accounting for transaction-based expenses—costs like fees paid to other parties for routing trades—the company's net revenue stood at $2.4 billion, a 3% increase from the same period last year.
While top-line growth was modest, the real story is in the company's profitability. Operating income grew 6% to $1.17 billion, and net income attributable to ICE surged an impressive 24% to $816 million. This translated to diluted earnings per share of $1.42, up from $1.14 in Q3 2024.
This flow diagram provides a visual breakdown of ICE's revenues and expenses for the third quarter, showing how the company's various business lines contribute to its bottom line.
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ICE's performance is best understood by looking at its three distinct business segments, which showed quite different results.
Exchanges: This is ICE's largest segment, encompassing the NYSE, futures exchanges, and clearing houses. It delivered steady net revenues of $1.3 billion, up just 1% year-over-year. However, operating income dipped 4% to $908 million due to a 17% rise in operating expenses. A 7% decline in transaction and clearing revenues from cash equities was a key factor, though this was offset by growth in data services.
Fixed Income and Data Services: This segment, which provides crucial data, analytics, and execution services for the fixed income market, was a source of strength. Revenues grew 5% to $618 million, and operating income jumped a healthy 16% to $244 million, showcasing improved efficiency and margin expansion.
Mortgage Technology: The most dramatic story comes from the Mortgage Technology segment. It posted revenues of $528 million, a 4% increase. More importantly, it swung from a $54 million operating loss last year to a $22 million operating profit this quarter. This turnaround was driven by a 10% reduction in operating expenses, signaling successful cost management and integration of recent acquisitions.
A strong operational performance generated significant cash. For the first nine months of 2025, cash flow from operations reached $3.4 billion, a 9% increase from the prior year.
ICE put this cash to work for its shareholders. The company resumed its share repurchase program in 2025, buying back $894 million of its stock in the first nine months, including nearly $400 million in the third quarter alone. This is a stark contrast to the same period in 2024, when no shares were repurchased, and reflects management's confidence in the company's financial position and future prospects. The company also continued to pay down debt, reducing its total debt by about $1.3 billion since the end of 2024.
Intercontinental Exchange's Q3 2025 results highlight the strength of its diversified business model. While its core Exchanges segment faces some headwinds and margin pressure, the impressive turnaround in Mortgage Technology and solid growth in Fixed Income and Data Services more than compensated. The company's ability to control costs, generate strong cash flow, and return capital to shareholders underscores a disciplined and effective strategy. As ICE continues to navigate the complexities of global markets, its performance this quarter suggests it is on solid footing.
Last updated: November 4, 2025